A lengthy discourse on the significance of a Bris Milah Celebratory Meal

 I don't have the time to translate this right now... and some of it goes off on tangents that include the language of a Ketubah. But here is a comment on the meal held over the arrival of Yisro to the Israelite encampment, and specifically to Moshe's tent, where a meal was held in his honor. Some are of the view that the celebration was over Yisro's circumcision, thus making the meal a Celebratory Bris Meal! The author is Rabbi Yochanan Luria in his Meshivas Nefesh.

משיבת נפש שמות פרק יח פסוק יב 

(יב) ויבא אהרן וכל זקני ישראל לאכל לחם עם חתן משה וכו'. ראוי לדרוש לנישואין, גם מקצת לדרוש ברית מילה, וכן דרשתי. פירש"י ומשה היכן היה [כו'] אלא היה עומד ומשמש לפניהם, גם פי' על לפני האלקים מכאן שהנהנה מהסעודה שת"ח מסובים בה כאילו נהנה מזיו השכינה. לפי זה המקרא מסורס והיה ראוי פי' זה אם באו אחרים לאכול עם אהרן והזקינים. (מראה) [ונראה] לי שבכאן בא יתרו להתגייר שנאמר עתה ידעתי וכו', אמרו רז"ל במס' (תענית) וכריתות ובסמ"ג בסי' קי"ו שבג' דברים נכנסו אבותינו לברית, במילה וטבילה וקרבן וכו'. נ"ל גר הבא להתגייר צריך ג' דברים הללו, ולמדנו כולם מזאת הפרשה, מילה זאת היא סעודה של מצוה ע"כ אמר שבאו לאכל לחם לפני האלקים, ואמר ויבא אהרן וכל זקני ישראל ולא הזכיר משה, להודיענו שבא לטבול על פי הדיינים כמו משפט, וא"כ משה היה פסול לדיין. והרצאת דמים אמר בפירש ויקח יתרו עולה וזבחים.

Birkat Hamazon for a Bris

 Sometimes there are no bentchers.  And sometimes the bentchers don’t have the Bris Milah additions. 

So here is a nice website that has ALL versions of Birkat Hamazon, As well as a special button to click for a Bris 

ברכתהמזון.com

Included below is the Ashkenazic version

Give Thanks to God for He is Good

One of the features of the Bris Milah ceremony includes the recitation of the verse הודו לה' כי טוב כי לעולם חסדו, which is translated in the title above.  It seems strange to say this, since we hear a baby crying and can only imagine that he does not feel that what is going on is so good. 

Chizkuni on Parshas Shemos gives the following explanation for why we'd say הודו לה' כי טוב כי לעולם חסדו at a bris. In the context of baby Moshe being born, the Torah describes how he is seen to be GOOD ( טוב), and it based on the Midrashic notion that he was born without a foreskin, in other words, he was born circumcised: כי טוב הוא -  נולד מהול. ולפי שכתוב בו כי טוב על שם שנולד מהול נהגו העם לומר הודו לה' כי טוב על המילה

We mention the idea that we are experiencing כי טוב after the baby has been circumcised, because that is the way Moshe is described in the Torah as soon as it was discovered that he was circumcised. 

This makes this a blessing that the child is now on the same status as the baby who grew to become Moshe Rabbenu! That is indeed something worth celebrating - a celebration of incredible potential!

Another reference to giving thanks is cross-linked in this blog post: 

The Changing Landscape

The new year on the secular calendar is an apt time to reflect on where we're at in the MOHELINSOUTHFLORIDA.COM world.

When I moved to Florida 16.5 years ago, there were a handful of mohels that were the "go-to" mohels in South Florida. One has moved to another state. Another has pulled back from being as busy for personal reasons. Another remains the most experienced "go-to" in some communities, but not the only "go-to." Others have increased their clientele and have become more prominent/known/busy. Still a couple of others are limited in their clientele to particular counties, or primarily service a more uniform style of families  

Since that time, a number of mohels have moved to South Florida - in particular in the last five years - and have changed the landscape a bit. I can't say if the birthrate has changed. That's for the census people and the statisticians to look into. But more mohels definitely means the work is being spread around more.

On a personal note I have always found the summer time to be the busiest time of year - especially with teachers planning babies at that time, and other people planning to enjoy their newborns in the slower times that summer brings.

Assimilation - the good kind

 I was trained by a Sefardi Mohel in Israel, so I am quite comfortable with the Sefardic (or other Edot Mizrach) Brit ceremonies. Since Sefardim love to have great rabbis be the Sandak (though many will go the "traditional" route of having a grandfather fill that role), I was privileged to meet Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef many times, as well as Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, Rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi Doron, and even Rabbi Yitzchak Kaduri, who was close to 100 years old at the time, and lived to be somewhere between 103-108 (no one knows exactly when he was born).

A few Random Items With One Common Theme

The Importance of Bedside Manner

 Thank God, I had several brisses this week, and along with them had a few unique experiences, beyond dealing directly with the parents and the baby - which is of course run-of-the-mill (though always a different dynamic).

1. First Story

At one bris, a couple who had their son circumcised a few months ago on a Shabbos (with a different mohel) asked me about something the mohel had done on Friday. He used a Probe to separate the foreskin from the glans, somewhere between 16-20 hours before the bris. They wanted to know if this is normal. (a few things emerge from this: a. it is (in my opinion) unnecessarily uncomfortable to the baby, b. it causes swelling, c. it might cause the baby to bleed)

While there may be different feelings about this, I'll tell you how I answered.

Post October 7

 Since that Holocaust-like day, when over 1200 Jews were slaughtered in a single day, there has been a sense that every Jew born since that day should serve as a replacement for someone whose life was snuffed out.

Until now, all the babies born were conceived before that fateful day, but soon the babies born will have been conceived after that time. 

The יהי רצוןs that follow Torah Reading when Tachanun is Cancelled for a Bris or a Baal Bris

 Being a mohel and also a rabbi of a shul, it happens often enough that I am able to daven in shul in the morning when I have a bris later in the day. I’ve written about this here: http://www.mohelinsouthflorida.com/2016/01/no-tachanun-so-called-perk-of-being.html

On Mondays and Thursdays, this presents us with a dilemma. While “everyone knows” that the presence of a Baal Bris cancels Tachanun, (see the last 4 paragraphs in the link to the left/above line), many also know that the יהי רצוןs recited as the Torah is being rolled up on Mondays and Thursday are also connected to the saying of Tachanun. The general rule is “when we don’t say Tachanun, we don’t say the יהי רצוןs” (See the Levush on Orach Chaim 429:2, and Ateres Zekenim also 429:2).

For many years now, whenever this circumstance happens – there is a mohel present (me) who has a Bris later in the day, but the Bris is not taking place here – I have announced “If the DAY cancels Tachanun, then the DAY cancels the יהי רצון. If an EVENT cancels Tachanun, then we still say the יהי רצוןs.”

Over the years I have gotten minimal backlash over this pronouncement, but a few people have asked me for the “Lomdus” behind it. I will admit there isn’t great “Lomdus” behind it, but as I feel there is merit to the argument, and a reasonable svara (thought process behind it), I now present it all here.

Abudirham (or Abudraham) on Cleanliness

In the Shulchan Arukh, there is a description of a Bris ceremony that includes the recitation of the blessing that follows the circumcision (the Mohel's blessing is right before the incision, and the father's blessing is at the moment of the incision), and the Rama adds an insight from Abudirham.

שולחן ערוך יורה דעה הלכות מילה סימן רסה

ואומר: בא"י אלהינו מלך העולם אשר קדש <ה> ידיד (ד) מבטן וכו'. ו ט] ונוהגין שכשמגיע י] לבדמיך חיי, נותן מהיין באצבעו <ו> בפי התינוק. (וכשהמוהל מברך ברכה זו, רוחץ תחלה ידיו ופיו, כדי שיברך בנקיות) (אבודרהם). 

When the Mohel recites that blessing, he should first wash his hands and mouth in order to recite a blessing in cleanliness.

Purim and a Bris

 Purim is a little over a week away.

Click here for a brief summary of what might be different on Purim.

An interesting question can be raised regarding a Purim Bris. 

Since the Bris is a mitzvah which is typically accompanied by its own Seudas Mitzvah, AND there is a Rabbinic Mitzvah to have a special meal on Purim, can the meals be combined? Do there need to be 2 separate meals?

In a simple sense, the halakha recommends that the Purim Seudah be in the afternoon, presumably so that all the other obligations of the day are over - one has already given Matanos L'Evyonim, one has delivered Mishloach Manos, one has heard the Megillah... now a person can relax, drink a little extra (slightly more than usual), and if necessary fall asleep. However, the Seudah MAY take place in the morning, if that is one's preference.